


It's time for a parteyy

by Campodesol_2000



Series: Supernatural kids!Universe [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Hunt (mentioned), Kid Castiel, Kid Gabriel, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 20:52:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16920192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Campodesol_2000/pseuds/Campodesol_2000
Summary: Cas and Gabe are now officially part of the family. When they miss their daddies, Nicki and Kristie offer to organise a surprise party for the hunters' return.





	It's time for a parteyy

**Author's Note:**

> For the beautiful art that inspired this work:
> 
> http://captbexx.tumblr.com/post/133484615544/i-love-de-aging-people-so-heres-de-aged-cas

Castiel folded his arms and looked at Nicki, pouting slightly. Dean and Sam had been gone for a few days and weren’t back yet. She knew he loved his moms, but really wanted his dads to come home. They allowed him to eat everything he wanted, they allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do, whenever he wanted. 

  Nicki sighed. Cas missed his dads, she knew that too. He asked her almost every day when they would return, and she didn’t have an answer to that. She missed them too. Mostly Sam, of course, but it was silent without both of the brothers’ bickering. Usually, Dean’s music - AC/DC - could be heard in the whole bunker. Now, it seemed awfully quiet. “What is it, sweetie?” she asked. She closed her laptop and turned in her seat at the dining table, leaning forward slightly, placing an elbow on her knee and stroking Cas’s cheek with her other hand. 

  Cas stretched out his arms to be picked up and looked at his mom with his best puppy eyes. “When will papa and daddy be home?”

  On the other side of the room, Kristie, Nicki’s best friend and Dean’s wife, looked up from her magazine, tired. “We don’t know, bumblebee.” 

  Cas giggled at the nickname but quickly turned serious again, shooting Kristie a semi-angry glare for distracting him. Nicki smiled and pulled him on her lap, gently stroking him over his head. “You know they’re hunting. Give them a few days to sort everything out and they’ll be back in no time, okay?” 

  “We could always try to call them?” Kristie said. Cas’s face lit up at the prospect. He jumped off Nicki’s legs and waddled towards the phone on the glass table in front of the couch Kristie sat on, the too large trench coat sliding over the floor behind him. Kristie looked a bit doubtful about her own suggestion. “You can’t be mad when they don’t pick up, okay? Like mama said, they are working very hard,” she said. 

  Cas nodded solemnly. “Promise, now call daddy and papa!” 

  “Don’t be rude, Cas,” Nicki reprimanded him as Kristie let out a slightly indignant huff. Cas just mumbled an apology before pressing the phone in Kristie’s hands. She shook her head, a huge smile appearing on her face, and dialed the number. Nicki got up and went to sit next to the duo as they waited for their spouses to pick up the phone. 

  “Why don’t they pick up?” Cas asked, just as they heard a voice on the other end of the line. 

  “Winchester,” said a gruff voice. Kristie sighed contently.  _ Dean.  _

  Cas squealed, loud and high, directly into the phone. Nicki and Kristie cringed, placing a hand over their ears. That surely must have cost Dean his eardrum. “Daddy!” Cas shouted. 

  “Cas, indoor voice, remember?” Nicki quipped.

  “Sorry,” he whispered, so soft that Dean probably couldn’t hear him. “Daddy!” he stage-whispered, hands grabbing for the phone, but Kristie didn’t budge and put it on speaker. 

  “Cas, good to hear you, buddy,” Dean said. “Wait, lemme put it on speaker and call papa.”

  Nicki and Kristie exchanged a look. “Great,” Nicki silently said to her best friend, leaning back into the couch and folding her arms. “We haven’t heard from them in days, and he only cares for Cas. Now we know what our place is.” 

  “I heard that,” Dean grumbled. “And you know that’s not true. I just thought it would be nice if you could speak to Sam too.”

  Nicki rolled her eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Right, Winchester. You always know how to talk your way out of things.” 

  “It takes talent,” Dean answered, but a stumbling noise in the background made it almost indiscernible. 

  Nicki frowned. “It takes Italians?” she asked, thoroughly confused. 

  A second voice joined the conversation on the other side of the line. “Obviously,” Sam laughed. “Hey, sweetie. How you doin’?” 

  “Wait, me or Cas?” Nicki asked, still a bit confused.

  “Both. I’m not going to choose. It doesn’t matter whom I choose, the other one will be mad at me for, like, forever.” Nicki’s frown was replaced by a smile. 

  “We’re doing great. Don’t need you at all. We are strong, independent women. We don’t need no men to watch out for us,” Kristie chuckled, causing Nicki to burst out laughing, “but Cas misses you a lot. I’m sure Gabe does too, but he’s asleep right now. You’re still alive, I take it?” 

  “No, we’re speaking with you from the dead, of course we are alive.” Dean’s voice sounded tired, but he was laughing softly. “We’re on the vampire nest now, but we have to wait until sunrise to be able to kill them without getting turned first.”

  “If everything goes according to plan, we should be home in three days,” Sam added. When he said this, all of the three faces fell considerably. 

  “Three whole days?” Nicki said. “Sam… no… whyyy?” she whined. Cas joined her, starting to sniffle softly, clutching to Kristie’s legs, who pulled him onto her lap and wrapped her arms around him, lulling him back and forth.

  “No no no! Don’t cry!” Dean pleaded. “Don’t you dare do that to us while we’re not there to comfort you. You know Sammy gets all emotional too when he can’t give you a hug, Nick. Don’t do that to me, please. I can’t handle a crying Sammy.” 

  Sam huffed indignantly, but didn’t deny any of the things Dean had said. A small voice suddenly sounded from the door to the living room. “Mommy? Mama?”

  Since Nicki was the one without a lap full of toddler, she turned around fully on the couch to see Gabriel standing there in his candy pyjamas, clutching his unicorn blanket to his chest. His hair looked like it had exploded and his eyes were sleepy. He rubbed them with a small fist and yawned, a stray tear running down his cheek, his eyes a bit bleary from just waking up. “Is daddy here?” 

  “Come here, sweetheart,” Nicki said, extending her arms and gesturing for him to come closer. He waddled to her and allowed her to pick him up, placing him on her laps and pulling him closer to her chest. “Look,” she softly mumbled in his ear, lulling him back and forth. “Daddy and papa are on the phone.” 

  “Dada?” he said, looking up from one of the unicorns on his blanket. “Dada?” 

  Dean chuckled. “Hey, bud, daddy here. You do realise Sam can’t talk right now because he thinks you’re too cute, right?” 

  Gabe frowned. “He can’t talk? Dada, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong, hon,” Sam said after a few seconds. “I’m doing fine. Have you just woken up?” 

  Gabe nodded. 

  “Gabe?” Sam asked.

  Nicki nudged Gabriel slightly. “He can’t see you through the phone, sweetie, you’ll have to speak.”

  Gabriel nodded. “Yesh,” he answered Sam’s question. “Daddy, sing a song for me?” he asked, leaning forward and placing both of his small hands on Nicki’s leg. She bit her lip and only barely contained a squeal of delight. She literally couldn’t handle Gabe right now. He was  _ way  _ too cute. 

  When Dean spoke again, Kristie heard the smile in his voice, the smile she could picture so easily it was crazy.  “Of course, hon. Lemme just grab my guitar, okay?”

   Gabe just nodded again, laying his head on Nicki’s shoulder and closing his eyes, but that didn’t matter as they heard Dean make a mess of their motel room to make room for the guitar case. In the meantime, Sam caught up with Cas. “Cas, sweetie, are you still being nice to your moms? Did you do something nice today?” 

  “Outside, in the garden, I followed a honeybee,” he said excitedly. 

  Sam chuckled. “That’s great, honey. Did you make sure not to be stung?”

  Cas scoffed and puffed up his chest. “Of course, I’m a big boy, papa.”

  Kristie smiled and pulled the little boy closer to her chest, stroking his cheek. “Yes, you are, sweetie. Dean, are you still there? Gabe is already falling asleep again. You’re going to have to be quick if you want him to hear you.” 

  Stumbling noises and a soft curse could be heard from the motel room. “Yes, I’m here. Sammy just decided to leave his shoes in the middle of the room. I almost break my neck.” 

  “Overdramatic much, Dean.” 

  “Shut up, bitch.” 

  “Jerk.” 

  Nicki would have facepalmed if she had been able to let go of Gabe. “Guys, there are children here, remember?”

  “Shit, that’s true.” 

  “ _ Dean! _ ” Kristie quipped. “Don’t!” 

  A chorused ‘Sorry’ sounded before the first notes of a lullaby sounded. Nicki, who’d stopped lulling Gabe, resumed her actions and hummed along when Dean and Sam started singing. 

__I listen to the wind  
To the wind of my soul  
Where I'll end up, well, I think  
Only God really knows  
I've sat upon the setting sun  
But never, never, never, never  
I never wanted water once  
No never, never, never

 __I listen to my words  
But they fall far below  
I let my music take me  
Where my heart wants to go  
I've swam upon the devil's lake  
But never, never, never, never  
I'll never make the same mistake  
No never, never, never

When the last tones faded away, Gabe had fallen asleep again. “Sam, I think I’m going to take Gabe to bed, okay? Don’t hang up till I’m back. Please,” Nicki said after a few seconds, already standing up, but Cas interrupted her. 

  “No, mama, I’ll get Gabe to bed,” he said, sliding of Kristie’s lap and taking Gabe’s hands. He woke up just enough to climb of Nicki’s legs and waddle along with his older brother. Nicki and Kristie almost literally melted at the sight. 

  “Oh my gods, they’re adorable,” Nicki whispered loudly. 

  “This should be illegal,” Kristie agreed. “Just  _ look  _ at them!” 

  “Girls,” Sam’s voice sounded. “We can’t see them, don’t do this to us.”

  “Gabe, with his candy pyjamas, and his unicorn blanket,” Kristie described for them, torturing them just slightly. “And his exploded hair.” She curled up and wrapped her arms around her knees, laying her head on the back of the couch. 

  “Kristie, no, please, I beg you,” Dean said. 

  “And his tired eyes,” Nicki added, folding her legs beneath her, scooting closer to the phone between the two of them, glad she finally heard from Sam again and didn’t have to share his attention. She loved Gabe and Cas with all her heart, but a little free time was heaven. “And his little hands and feet.”  

  “Girls, we’re begging you on our knees. Please!” Sam said desperately. 

  Nicki continued, a smirk on her face that couldn’t be heard in her voice at all… “And Cas still refuses to part from his trench coat, but since it’s a little too big, his hands almost completely disappear in the sleeves. He wobbles through the whole house with that thing on. His hair is as unruly as ever. He constantly wants to help Gabe and holds his hand to make sure he’s safe. You should’ve seen them when we went to the mall yesterday for some groceries. Cas was acting like a little bodyguard, glaring at everyone who wanted to ‘steal’ his baby brother.” 

  “Nickiiii~,” Sam whined. “Pleeeaaase.” 

  “Alright, alright, but only if you promise to be home in three days.” 

  “We’ll try to make it shorter, promise. But I can’t say for sure.” Sam sighed. “God, Nicki, I miss you. Do you know what I have to put up with?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Dean. It’s hell.” 

  Dean, who was still there, of course, slapped Sam. “It’s hell with your ‘so get this’s all the time. And you make me eat rabbit food.”

  “It’s good for you!” 

  Nicki, who had to listen to this debate every single day, quickly put a halt on their bickering. “Let’s save this for when we’re not on the phone, yeah? I get it, you’re constantly around each other, but don’t kill each other for no reason. We need you. Both of you. In one piece, please.”

  A sigh from both of them. “Fine. What did you do today?” Dean asked. 

  They stayed on the phone for almost another hour, exchanging small details about their day and their plans for the next, before finally having to hang up after making the boys promise to call them as soon as they were leaving. Rubbing her eyes, Kristie got up first, making her way over to her bedroom. “I’ll check on Cas and Gabe. You… do whatever you want to do. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Sleep tight.” 

  Nicki nodded and leaned back into the couch. She was listening to some relaxing music when an idea struck her. She jumped up from the couch and almost ran to her friend’s room. She barged in without knocking, jumped on Kristie’s bed and slung her arms around Kristie, hugging her as tightly as she could. “Kristie!” She stage whispered. “I just got the most brilliant idea ever. We should have a party when they get home. Cas and Gabe could dress up and there would be decorations and food and it would be awesome!” She rolled over so she wasn’t crushing Kristie anymore and crawled under the covers, making herself comfortable.

  Kristie groaned and shook her head at her friend’s antics. “Hold on, hold on, hold on, I just woke up again. Come again?” 

  Nicki explained everything again, a little bit slower this time. “And? What do you think?” 

  She wiggled her eyebrows and Kristie burst out laughing. “Alright, you nutter. Sounds like fun. But only if the boys want it too.”

  Nicki rolled over and wrapped herself around her friend, placing her head on Kristie’s shoulder. “Obviously. Now go to sleep, all this enthusiasm is tiring.”

  “Really? You come in here in the middle of the night to wake me up and tell  _ me  _ to go to sleep? Unbelievable.”

  “Shh…”

 

The next day, to small boys crawled onto Kristie’s bed and started shaking Nicki and Kristie’s shoulders. “Mommy, mama, get up, get up, get up! It’s morning, time for breakfast!”

  Kristie only groaned and turned around to go to sleep again. Nicki, who had been wide awake the moment the bedroom door opened, chuckled and lifted Gabe off of Kristie. “Don’t wake up mommy, yeah? She’s not very good with mornings. I’ll make you breakfast.” She stood up and hooked an arm under each child, carrying them to the kitchen like bags of luggage, causing them to squeal in laughter. In the kitchen, she put them on two chairs and walked to one of the shelfs on the wall, grabbing the pancake mix when Cas shouted he wanted pancakes. “Okay,” she said, turning around. “But you’re gonna be quiet till you get them, otherwise you’ll wake mommy and she’ll say you can’t have them.” 

  Immediately, Cas shut up, but Gabe slid of his chair and wobbled over to Nicki, hugging her leg. Nicki crouched in front of him to be the same height, grinning when Gabe did the same. “Do you want pancakes too, sweetie?” she asked. “Or do you want something else?” 

  He yawned, falling on his butt and placing his tiny hands between his spread legs. “I’m tired.” 

  Nicki shook her head, a smile plastered on her face. “You just got out of bed.” 

  “I know,” he sniffed, “But I’m still tired.” 

  Nicki picked him up from the floor and carried him back to Kristie’s bedroom, the only thing he seemed to want to do. Silently, she placed the tired toddler beside his mommy on the bed, who wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. “You tired too, honey?” Gabe hummed softly before falling asleep, starting to snore quietly. 

  She walked back to the kitchen, and to the overly excited Cas. “You know, Cas, I had an idea yesterday and I want to know what you think.”

  Cas beamed, looking proud to be included in making important decisions. “Alright, what is it?”

  “I thought we could organise a surprise party when papa and daddy get home. What do you think?” 

  Cas clapped his hands excitedly. “Party!”

  “So you like the idea?” 

  “Yes!” he shouted. 

  “Shh, inside voices. We could make decorations and delicious food and we could dress up as anything we like.”

  “Nnnngh, yes yes yes. I love it!” Cas quickly ate his breakfast and ran upstairs before Nicki could stop him. She heard the unmistakable noises of Kristie waking up properly and it wasn’t five minutes before one very excited and two sleep drunk people walked into the kitchen. 

  “So, Cas said we’re going shopping today?” Kristie yawned, stretching and walking to the table to get her share of the pancakes. 

  “Well, if we want to dress up, we actually need something to wear, you know. And we need to buy stuff to make decorations with. I don’t think the nonexistent glue and paper we have here will be enough…”

  Kristie shrugged. “Fair enough. We’ll go to the mall again. I saw a costume shop there and I’m sure we’ll find glue and paper too. Do we have enough for the sweets or do we have to go for groceries as well?” 

  “Er…” Nicki turned around and opened a few cabinets to look at their content. “I guess we have to get more. But what are we going to make?” 

  Cas gasped. “We  _ have  _ to make cinnamon rolls. They’re Gabe’s favourite. Right, Gabe?”

  Gabe nodded. “Yeah.” He thought for a moment. “Pudding for Cas.”

  “Alright,” Nicki said, rummaging through the drawers to find a scrap of paper and a pen to write down what they would have to buy. “Cinnamon rolls, pudding, pie for Dean and a salad for Sam? Something like that?”

  “I want applepie,” Kristie added, her mouth full with pancakes. “And cookies. And brownies.” 

  “Jesus Christ, Kris, are you going to eat all of that?” 

  “No. Dean likes brownies too.” 

  Nicki facepalmed. “Fine, brownies and cookies. Got it.” She scribbled it down and tore the paper of the notepad. “Alright, we’re all set. Come on, let’s go to the car.”

  Cas and Gabe squealed with laughter and, holding hands, ran the other way. “We can’t go yet, mama,” Cas called.

  Nicki placed her hands on her hips. “And why would that be?”

  “We’re still in pyjamas, mama!” And they ran to their rooms. 

  Nicki ran after them, pretending to want to take them out without their clothes on. She followed them into their room and grabbed them around their waist, pulling them back onto the floor, where they wrestled around for a minute before collapsing in the middle of the room. When Nicki looked at the door opening, she saw Kristie filming the entire thing and waved at the camera. “Come on, boys, wave to the camera.” They all laid on their back with their head to the door and waved over their heads. They eventually did have to get dressed, so Nicki helped the boys up and changed them into their everyday clothes. 

  Nicki carried Cas to the car, placing him on the backseat and joining him there, while Kristie set Gabe on his child seat. She opened the front door and sat down on the driver’s seat. “Alright, boys. how about we put on some music?” She fiddled in the glove box until she found a DVD by Pentatonix, knowing that they all liked the music and could sing along mostly. She turned onto the road and drove to the mall. They drove with the windows open due to the heat, thus giving everyone a live concert. Luckily for the passersby, two out of four were able to hold a pitch. When they arrived at the mall, Kristie’s phone started to ring. Without thinking, she closed the car door and pressed the green button. “Winchester,” she greeted whoever was on the line. 

  “I love it when you say my name like that,” Dean said, voice low. She could practically see the suggestive smirk on his face. 

  “Dean! Oh my god, hi! How did it go?” she asked, throwing her bag over her shoulder and taking Gabe’s hand. 

  “It’s done. We need to clean our mess, but then we’re coming home as fast as we can. I think we’ll be there tomorrow night.” 

  “Really? That’s great! I think the others will be glad to hear that too.”

  “Can you put us on speaker?” he asked. 

  Kristie looked around. “Nope, sorry. We’re shopping.” 

  “Again?”

  “Yeah, they wanted ice cream and we forgot the thing we literally use the most, bread. Oh, and we’re out of pads.”

  Dean made a disgusted noise. “Right, not something I needed to hear. The first two things were good enough.” 

  “You wuss. The next time I’m sending you to buy them,” she teased, walking to the entrance. Gabe let go of her hand and walked over to Cas, who, in his turn, took the small hand of his little brother and walked into the supermarket like they owned the place. Kristie smiled fondly and followed them inside. “And you can count on it that I’m going to send you everytime it happens from now on.” 

  “You should be a professional torturer.” 

  “I am. I always kill the most loved characters,” she said. Nicki, who was walking beside her, got hold of a basket and looked at her, silently asking what was taking her so long. “Hey, Dean, sweetie, not that I don’t like talking to you, but I think Nicki wants us to hurry. She looks a bit agitated.” 

  “Mommy!” Cas shouted. “I have the brownies!” 

  Kristie facepalmed. If he continued shouting like that, not only the whole mall, but also Sam and Dean would know what they were buying.

  “That’s great, honey,” Nicki whispered. “But Daddy is on the phone. We can’t tell him about our surprise yet, remember?” 

  “Brownies?” Dean asked. “Kris, why are you buying brownies? I thought you were going for bread, ice cream and pads.” 

  “And clearly, Cas wants brownies. Bye!” And she pressed the red button, sliding her phone in her bag. “Cas, you almost told daddy our little secret.” 

  Cas quickly pressed a hand on his mouth. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Where are the cookies? And pie? And candies?” As Cas proceeded to give everything he liked to Gabe, who placed it in the basket, Nicki and Kristie needed all their time to put back everything that wasn’t on their list and try to find what  _ was  _ on the list at the same time. Thirty minutes later, they had seen almost every stand in the shop and were almost finished.    

  “We still miss one thing,” Nicki eventually said, looking at her scribbels, words only she could read. “Garlands.” 

  “Untrue! Costumes! And garlands!” Gabe squeaked. Nicki quickly paid for their food and made sure she didn’t lose sight of Gabe and Cas as they ran to the party shop of the mall. As Kristie put all the food in her bag, Nicki followed the little boys into a costume shop. Cas was looking at a stand with suits - way too big for him, they were for grown-ups -, so Nicki softly pushed him to the right part of the shop. There were stacks upon stacks of costumes and Cas practically started drooling. He started picking out various options, but almost lost it when he saw a costume of a bumblebee. Nicki and Kristie were busy dressing up Gabe as a toffee, and only heard a high pitched scream. Nicki didn’t know how fast she had to find him, but when she did, she only saw him clutching a yellow and black costume to his chest. 

  “I want this one, mama,” he said. 

  “Sure, hon, but what is it?” Nicki asked, since he was holding it so tightly she only saw a few colours. 

  “A bee!” 

  “Awesome, come on, let’s try it on, huh?” Nicki almost died from all the cuteness when they put Gabe and Cas next to each other. Both boys refused to take of their new costume, so spend the rest of the day dressed as a bee and a toffee. For themselves, Nicki and Kristie had bought costumes of respectively a pirate and a cowgirl. Cas and Gabe somehow convinced them to wear their costumes too, so they must have been quite a sight when they went to buy the paper and glue they would need for their home made decorations. 

  After an exhausting afternoon, they returned to the bunker, with more than five bags of things they needed for the party the next day.

  “So, important information: Dean and Sam will return tomorrow night, so we should have all the decorations ready and up by diner. Who is going to help me with the baking?”

  Cas and Gabe gasped and clung to each other, letting Kristie and Nicki know they would under no circumstances let themselves be seperated.

  “We want to cook together,” Cas whined.

  Nicki chuckled. “Alright then, how about this? Today, we’ll all work on the decorations so we have all day tomorrow to bake.” Cas and Gabe nodded, happy that things were going their way. Nicki put all the food away and divided all the materials over the dining table. “You can make drawings, so we can cut them out and stick them on the walls.” The boys sat to work enthusiastically, giving their moms a moment of rest. They sat down on the couch.

  “So, does Dean know anything yet?” Nicki asked. 

  “I don’t think so, I hang up as soon as he asked why we were buying brownies too. We should make a planning if we want to be able to bake everything tomorrow.”

  “So, brownies, cinnamon rolls, cookies, pie, salad.”

  “That’s a lot.”

  “We are a cowgirl and a pirate, we can do this!” 

  “Nicki.”

  Nicki turned to her innocently. “Yeah?”

  “You are turning into Cas.”  

  Cas, not having heard a word of their conversation, looked up at the mention of his name, his pencil clutched in his fist, legs folded beneath him, leaning over his drawing, the tip of his tongue between his teeth. “Wha?”

  Nicki stood up from the couch and ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing. You are awesome, buddy.” She walked into the kitchen to get drinks for everyone. During the afternoon, Cas and Gabe made almost twenty drawings each. 

  “Look!” Cas exclaimed, pointing at his last drawing, which contained six stick figures. They looked exactly the same, safe for their height. “That is mama and papa, and mommy an daddy and that is Gabe and me!” Nicki reached for the drawing to stick it next to the other 39 drawings, but Cas snatched it back. “It’s not finished yet.” He continued to draw long hair on the stick figures that presented Kristie and Nicki. Then, he wrote his name in clumsy letters and helped Gabe write his. He gave it to Nicki proudly. “Now it’s finished.” 

 

“Mommyyyyyyy! We can’t get it on!” Cas shouted. 

  Kristie looked up from the batter in the bowl and turned to Nicki. “Can you help him? I’m a bit… occupied.” 

  “Whaaat? You’re only elbow deep in cookie dough and you can’t help him? Tss,” Nicki said, mockingly offended, but she turned to Cas’s room nonetheless. Gabe and Cas were seated on the floor in the middle of a heap of clothes. They were both pouting and Nicki crouched in front of them. “Well, come on, then. I can’t help you if you’re sitting on your butt.” 

  Cas and Gabe started giggling and both let themselves fall on their back. “You said butt!” Cas said when they had calmed down a bit. 

  “Yeah, yeah,” Nicki grumbled and lifted Gabe from the floor. “You first.” She helped him get his tiny legs and arms through the costume and pulled up the zipper on his back. She repeated the progress with Cas, but this time it took significantly longer as he didn’t want to sit still. When she had eventually succeeded to make sure his left leg and arm weren’t in the same hole, she gave them a little push to the kitchen and told them to see if Kristie needed help. She, on the other hand, walked to her own room and changed into the pirate costume. It fitted perfectly and looked very bad ass. She was wearing black trousers, leather boots, a white blouse with a leather corset, a pirate hat and a belt with a holster and sword. Sam was going to  _ love  _ this outfit. 

  The same was true for Kristie. When Nicki had taken over her tasks in the kitchen, Kristie walked to her room and changed into her outfit; shorts, a flanel, leather boots, a cowboy hat and a holster with one of Dean’s guns he’d left at home for their safety. With an approving look on her face, she looked at herself in the mirror.  _ Yep,  _ she thought.  _ He won’t know where to look.  _ She skipped down the hall to help with the finishing touches of their surprise. 

  It looked amazing. The whole room was decorated with garlands and drawings made by Cas and Gabe, it smelled like cookies, brownies and pie. Cas and Gabe were dancing around in their costumes, running in circles, waiting for their dads’ arrival. When the familiar noise of the garage door opening sounded, Gabe and Cas ran to the hallway, squealing, and clapped their hands as they waited in front of the door. Nicki and Kristie followed their excited sons and waited behind them. 

  They fell quiet, anxiously waiting for the door to open. When it did, Cas jumped forward and smashed himself against Dean’s legs, hugging them so hard that Sam had to make sure Dean didn’t fall over back into the garage. “Daddy!” 

  Gabe walked to Sam and demanded to be picked up, hugging his father’s neck. Sam cooed at the outfit his son was wearing. “Gabe, hon, you look awesome. Did you pick that out all by yourself?” Gabriel nodded.

  “Hey, bud, I’m glad to see you too,” Dean said cheerfully, crouching in front of Cas and taking him into a tight embrace. When both of the men looked up to their spouses, their breath caught in their throat and their jaws dropped to the floor. 

  “N-nicki,” Sam managed to say. “What’s- what’s this?” 

  “We just wanted to celebrate your return, captain,” she said in a low voice. 

  Kristie turned to Dean. “What do you think, cowboy?” she asked with a seductive wink. Dean could only babble nonsense as he took in the cowgirl outfit. He blushed and quickly looked at his son again. “Cas, son, when did you turn into a bee? And what is that delicious smell?”

  Cas giggled. “I’m not a real bee, daddy. But I do sting!” He stuck out his finger and booped Dean’s nose.

  Dean pretended to be very hurt and hugged Cas as he let himself fall on the floor, causing them both to roll over. He chuckled, his eyes darting to Kristie again, but quickly diverted his gaze when he saw her leaning against the doorpost. Actually, he only saw her legs, but his heartbeat fastened so badly he had to look away to keep control over himself. 

  Sam, on the other hand, couldn’t divert his gaze from Nicki. With Gabe on his arm, he took a step forward and pulled Nicki closer to him with his free arm. “A pirate, huh?” he whispered, looking her up and down. 

  “Aye!” she said, staying in character. He was so close she could feel the warmth radiating from him. He chuckled nervously and went to kiss her, but she placed a hand over his mouth. “Now, now, captain. You can’t kiss your first mate in front of the entire crew. Whatever might they think?”

  Sam leaned back, unamoosed. “You’re being a terrible tease, Nicki. I’ve just killed a dozen vampires and you don’t even let me kiss you? That’s harsh.” 

  “Maybe, but it’s a necessary evil. You haven’t even seen the rest of the surprise yet.”

  At this point, Gabriel made himself known by kicking his feet, hitting Sam directly in the gut. He oomphed loudly and bit his lip to keep himself from cursing. “Gabe, let me guess, you want me to go to the living room?” he asked. 

  Gabe nodded furiously, his head wobbling. Sam run a hand through his short hair and walked away from Nicki, Dean and Cas following him a few feet behind them. Nicki checked with Kristie and saw she already had her camera out. She motioned for Kristie to join her in the door opening and looked as their small group of loved ones moved to the living room.

  “Well, that worked well,” she said softly, looking at Sam’s back absentmindedly. 

  Kristie snorted. “Well? Did you see his face? If it wasn’t for the boys, he would have had you against the wall right there.” 

  “Oh, shut it,” Nicki retorted. “Same goes for you. He wouldn’t even have made it to your room.” She pushed herself from the wall and followed the other five into the living room. The moment she entered the room, she saw Sam and Dean looking at the drawings made by Cas and Gabe, the boys pointing out their favourites. 

  “Look! I made a Christmas tree!” Cas said proudly, who was now sitting on Dean’s shoulders. 

  “I made a reindeer!” Gabe said to Sam. 

  Dean laughed. “I guess he picked up on your nickname, huh? He’s just drawing his family.”

  Cas excitedly hit him on the head while Gabe pulled on Sam’s hair, causing their dads to flinch slightly. “We drawed you over there,” Cas said, pointing to the stick figure drawing with their names on it. “That’s you and mommy, and mama and papa, and me and Gabe.” 

  “It’s beautiful, sweetheart,” Dean said, his voice soft and emotional for a change. He got hold of the painting and took a better look at it before looking at Kristie. “You look particularly good in this fashion, Kris.” 

  “Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Dean.” She rolled her eyes and made a picture of Dean with Cas the bumblebee on his shoulders, holding the drawing. 

  “And look at the garlands!” Cas said, pointing at them excitedly. “We made them too!” 

  “Really?” Sam asked. “They’re beautiful, sweetheart.”

  “We bought them,” Nicki whispered. “But don’t tell them that.” She grabbed Sam’s hand and pulled him to the dining table. When Dean turned around, he gulped. 

  “You’re going to make us fat,” he said to Kristie, pressing a kiss on her cheek. “I love it.” 

  She laughed. “Just sit down, cowboy. Let us take care of you. Hunting vampires is such hard work.” 

  “Yes, it is,” he grumbled, nuzzling into her neck before he lifted Cas of his shoulders and flew him  to the couch. Kristie took one more picture before she cut off a part of the pie and brought it to Dean. He groaned contently when he saw what was in her hands. “I love you, Kristie,” he said, eyes big. “And your pies too.”

  Nicki looked at Sam, who was eyeing the sweetness suspiciously. She chuckled. “Sam, hon, I made you something a bit more healthy. Thought you would appreciate that.” She lifted the bowl with the salad and handed him a fork. “There you go.” 

  He chuckled. “Thank you. But I want a cookie too.” 

  Nicki gasped dramatically and slapped his arm. “Samuel William Winchester! You can’t have a cookie! They’re for the kids!” 

  He arched an eyebrow. “And for Dean and Kristie. And you.”

  “I said ‘kids’, didn’t I?” 

  “Hmm, you’ve got a point there.” Sam, of course, went to grab a cookie anyway and carried Gabe, his cookie and his salad to the couch, where he sat down to eat in peace. Or in as much peace as a family of six allows. They spend the next hour or so eating and cuddling on the couch, catching up on everything that had happened when they were apart. Cas and Gabe eventually jumped off the couch and picked up a small children’s book. Cas was just starting to learn how to read and wanted to show Gabe how much he had already learned. They sat down in one armchair together and Cas started reading slowly. Gabe looked from the book to his older brother with big eyes. 

  “Once upon a time…” Cas started, one arm wrapped around his little brother’s shoulders. “There lived a prince…” 

  Very smoothly, Dean and Sam stretched and put their arms around their girls, the faint smell of blood still clinging to their clothes. Nicki scrunched up her nose at the smell. “You are going to take a shower before anything else happens tonight,” she whispered. 

  Sam snorted. “You should have seen us when we were done with the nest.” 

  “Nah, I’ll pass.” 

  “You wuss.” 

  “You’re a wuss!”

  Sam squeezed her shoulders slightly. “We’re all so very mature…”

  “Guys, shut it!” Dean whispered. “I can’t hear a thing!” He leaned back into the couch and pulled Kristie closer to him. “I wanna hear the story. He’s gonna be a great story teller one day, just you wait and see.” With a content smile, Kristie folded her legs underneath her and crawled as close to Dean as possible, but she, too, looked disgusted when she smelt the blood. She looked up at Dean, who silently asked her what was wrong.

  “You smell like hell,” she whispered back. “I’m going to wash your clothes, first thing in the morning. And you’re going to shower when they’re in bed.” She nodded towards Cas and Gabe. 

  Dean chuckled. “I’ve been to hell, and this is not how it smells like.” 

  “On the other hand, you could always sleep on the couch.” 

  “What?!” he scream-whispered. “What was that for?”

  “For being an insufferable know-it-all. Now shut up.” After a indignant huff form Dean, Kristie scooted even closer to him and lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, a content smile on her face.

  Cas’s story continued. “It was in a kingdom far, far away, hidden in the woods. A very high and beautiful tower stood on a hill. Nobody dared to go near, because a very scary dragon was sat upon it. One day, the king promised a lot of gold to the first person to save the princess living in the higher room of the tower. Lots of men tried to beat the dragon and save the princess, but nobody could kill it. One day, the prince decided to try. He rode to the tower on his horse and looked at the top of the tower. He could see the dragon, but he didn’t seem scary. No, the dragon looked scared. ‘Hello?’ the prince called. ‘Do you need help to get down?’ ‘Yes, please,’ the dragon answered. The prince walked around the tower and so windows without glass in them. They were perfect for his plan. ‘If you put your paws in the window, you can climb down!’ he called to the top of the tower. The dragon still looked scared, but he tried what the prince said and soon he was standing on the ground. ‘Now I am supposed to kill you,’ the prince said, ‘but I don’t want to. Let’s be friends.’ The dragon agreed and together they walked of, never to be seen again. The end.”

  Gabriel clapped his hands, clearly thinking this was one of the best stories he had heard so far. The adults in the room, however, frowned slightly. Nicki raised an eyebrow. “I remember that story to end a little differently,” she whispered. 

  “Yeah, me too,” Kristie agreed. “Did Cas just make it up?” 

  Sam shrugged. “Guess so. Anyhow, I thought it was marvellous.” 

  Nicki punched his stomach teasingly. “And that’s why women think men to be unromantic.” 

  “It was romantic! It was a bromance.”

  Nicki looked at him, unamused, and facepalmed. “Okay, I’m going to give you half an hour to think those words over. I’m gonna take them to bed. When I’m back, I want to hear the most romantic thing a man can say to a woman. Understood?” she asked. 

  Sam gulped. “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

  “Great. Come on, Cas, Gabe, let’s get you to bed.” 

 

Half an hour later, Sam still didn’t know what to say, so he had already resigned himself to trying to show his wife something romantic. She probably wouldn’t accept it, but who knows, he might still be alive two minutes later. He had sent Dean and Kristie away to their room and prepared his small surprise. When she burst into the room and went to stand in front of him expectantly, he stood up and went to the stereo to put on their song. When the first notes sounded through the room and he extended his hand to her, he saw her expression soften into a gummy smile. He knew she loved older music and this was the song she had been singing when he met her. He pulled her close to him and led her into the steps of the song, singing along with the lyrics. 

__At last my love has come along  
My lonely days are over and life is like a song, oh yeah  
At last the skies above are blue  
My heart was wrapped up clover the night I looked at you  
I found a dream that I could speak to  
A dream that I can call my own  
I found a thrill to press my cheek to  
A thrill I've never known, oh yeah  
You smiled, you smiled oh and then the spell was cast  
And here we are in Heaven  
For you are mine at last

Sam kissed his wife sweetly and pressed his forehead to hers. “Romantic enough?”

  “Hmm, yes. Romantic enough.” 

 

When Sam sent them out of the room, Dean took Kristie’s hand in his and led her to the staircase, taking her outside onto the roof. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, her back pressed against his stomach. 

  “I’ve always loved stars,” Kristie said weekly. 

  Dean chuckled. “I know, sweetie,” he whispered in her ear. “I know. It must have been exhausting, a week without us to protect you. To always be on edge, to not know whom you can trust.” 

  “Don’t make yourself more important than you are,” she teased softly, leaning back into him. “I’m glad you’re back. It was getting cold at night, when you weren’t there.” 

  He smiled. She could feel it on the back of her neck, his steady breathing, the warmth of it. “It’s good to be home,” he mumbled. 


End file.
